IL-6 Serum Levels in COVID-19 Patients With Vertigo.

ABSTRACT

Introduction Dizziness and vertigo represent well-established symptoms of COVID-19. An overexpression of cytokines, a condition often described with the term "cytokine storm" or "hypercytokinemia", is a key characteristic of SARS-Cov-2 infection and plays a pivotal role in disease progression and prognosis. Among them, IL-6 is of major importance.  Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate any probable IL-6 serum titer difference in COVID-19 patients with vertigo (V+) or without vertigo (V-) admitted to the COVID-19 internal medicine departments of Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece, within 12 months. Methods The sample consisted of 52 COVID-19 patients who were diagnosed between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. Of those, 31 reported vertigos during their admission (V+), while the remaining 21 COVID-19 patients did not complain of such symptoms (V-). Results Higher IL-6 serum levels post-COVID-19 infections lead to higher incidence rates of vertigo symptoms (p<.005), regardless of gender and age (p.005).